KUALA LANGAT – Separating the Temuan tribe’s Kg Busut Baru and the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve (KLNFR) is a ditch with waters the colour of strong black tea – a common trait of a peat swamp forest.
Bridging the two is a huge fallen meranti that has yellow lichens, and just a few steps in, sits a little wooden shrine with a thatched roof made of fronds of the kelubi tree.
In it, rest half of a coconut shell and two pieces of dried pressed barks – one shaped into a rectangle box, the other was cut into a square.
A ribbon-like ornament fashioned from dried nipah leaves hung loosely atop of the objects.
The humble shrine – called tanggak – is where the Temuan people furnish incense offering to their ancestors and guardian deities, in exchange for a safe passage through the forest.
There are several versions of the chant but the one recited by Temuan forager Gang Anak Jantan before leading The Vibes into the 931ha forest was this: “Kitak nak masuk dalam rimba, ini pina, roko, membakau, berasap kemenyang. Biarkan cucu cicit dengan moyang memintai.”
“We must do this whenever we want to enter the forest,” he said.
“The forest is our ancestors’ home. When you enter someone’s home, you let them know. Never enter without asking for permission.”
There are four Orang Asli settlements near the forest reserve – three of which have been living there for hundreds of years.
The Temuan tribe, however, originally lived near another forest where the Kuala Lumpur International Airport now sits.
They were relocated next to the forest reserve in 1993 to make way for KLIA. Houses and monetary compensations, of varying amounts, were given as reparations.
“In the past, the forest here was connected to the one in KLIA. I used to wander and forage for wild herbs and agarwood, from there to all the way here,” Gang said.
“These forests have been part of our culture for hundreds of years.”
KLNFR is one of the few peat swamp forests left in Selangor and has, since last year, been bogged down after being earmarked for a massive mixed development project. This has led to the need for its status to be degazetted.
This time around, the Temuan tribespeople – all 400 of them – are putting their foot down.
As the tribespeople do not earn much, they depend on the forest for spices and items of medicinal value.
For example, the boiled water of an akar kutu kills head lice; the leaves of the kulim trees are used as a substitute for garlic when cooking and the tapak sulaiman herb can heal joint pain, postpartum depression and ascites.
“To wander and forage the forest is our cultural identity,” said another Temuan tribesman Samsul Anak Senin, who is also the chairman of Kg Busut Baru community development committee.
“If the forest is no more. Our culture and traditions will slowly die. We will lose our identity.”
A forest surrounded by concrete jungles
The Orang Asli settlements near KLNFR are flanked by development.
There is Cyberjaya to the east, the soon-to-be-built affluent township of Gamuda Cove down south and up north lies IJM Land’s RM11 billion Rimbayu luxurious residential areas.
“I believed when it comes to the development of Orang Asli, we should be given a choice.
“Those who want to stay in the village and maintain their way of life should be equally respected as those who embrace modernisation in the cities,” said Samsul.
In Selangor, de-gazetting a forest reserve requires a reimbursement of equal nature and value. But in the case of KLNFR, the state government plans to replace the earmarked lands with three separate plots in three different forests in Kuala Selangor.
A one-way trip from KLNFR to Kuala Selangor takes about an hour and a half.
While the project tender is yet to be awarded, it was learnt that one of the vying developers is linked to Selangor royalty – a fact that puts some of the Temuan people in a bind.
This is because matters concerning the Orang Asli are mostly under the purview of the sultans with the involvement of the Department of Orang Asli Development.
“We have heard of such news but most of us are just going to view them as a developer regardless of their ties to royalty. The law is equal and applies to everyone, right?” – The Vibes, October 21, 2020
